Mulan II (2004)

Fa Mulan gets the surprise of her young life when her love, Captain (now General) Li Shang asks for her hand in marriage. Before the two can have their happily ever after, the Emperor assigns them a secret mission, to escort three princesses to Qui Gong, China. Mushu is determined to drive a wedge between the couple after he learns that he will lose his guardian job if Mulan marries into the Li family. After the princesses unexpectedly fall in love with the Gang of Three, Mulan decides to help them escape the fate of marrying men they do not love. This contradicts the Emperor’s orders and forces him to put Mulan’s relationship with Shang into question. They are attacked by Mongolians, and the fate of China hangs in the balance. —Megan BurneyLet’s get something out of the way… Mulan II is nothing compared to the original. But then again, what Disney direct to DVD sequel is? If you look at this movie for what it really is, you’ll notice that it’s actually pretty good. Keep in mind it’s nothing extraordinary and you can skip this film with a clear conscience, but if you happen to get to watching it for whatever reason you’ll probably find the film entertaining and definitely watchable.The big difference between the first film and this one lies in the direction the development team went for: the original was an ambitious epic about a complex moral dilemma, while the sequel touches on simple black and white issues. Keep in mind that simplicity isn’t necessarily a bad thing when done right.But does simplicity hurt the film? Well, the dialogue is far from witty, the plot is super generic, the character development is a checklist, etc… Yet, does a child care about any of this? After all, direct to DVD sequels are aimed solely at children because a parent doesn’t need to be present. No. The simplicity only makes the film more accessible to a younger audience. After all, bite sized lessons and issues are a lot more easy to swallow for a five year old. To the film’s credit, it also gets the essentials right. The plot makes sense, characters are developed, the songs are decent, the pacing works, and most importantly most of the voice cast returns so everything feels right.Now of course, the film isn’t without it’s flaws. The biggest issue is this film features way less action than it’s predecessor and way less Mulan (she practically disappears in the middle of the film). Mulan’s bickering with Shang is also very badly written. Yet, minor complaints.Overall a decent film. 7/10. It’s not a must see and can be left to the children, but if you happen to end up watching the film for whatever reason AND you lower your expectations, you might enjoy it. Well, as long as you’re not expecting it to compare to the first one.